Art of Passion
by Alice-n-Edna
Summary: During art class, the teacher assigns a peculiar project titled 'Art of Passion', introducing it as a way to find your hidden passion. Mello and Near both have their ideas of what they're going to draw, but things don't always work out as planned... MxN!


Art of Passion

(A/N: I had a dream about this... XD That's what inspired me to write it. And, of course, the wonderful characters Mello and Near (and Matt, lol) from the equally wonderful minds of Ohba and Obata! I've been assigned a project similar to this, only I had to draw someone in the room in general. I drew my friend Shannon. ^^ I'm sure everyone's sick of my blabbering already, so here comes the actual story!)

* * *

Nine classes in an average Wammy House school day, and barely one of them taught anything remotely worthwhile.

Sigh.

Mello slumped in his chair, staring intently at the clock to his left as if he were willing it to bring sixth period to an end.

From the general direction of the classroom's front, the boy heard his name being called. "Forty-three and seven hundredths," he mumbled boredly.

"Correct," the teacher replied, scraping something on the chalkboard with a crusty piece of chalk.

Mello cringed. He wished Mr. Ilat would get with the times and buy a friggin' dry-erase board like everyone else. It was painful to listen to him writing, and even more painful to try _reading _it.

"Here's tonight's homework, everyone. Copy it down in your daily agendas; I'll check them on the way out to make sure you have it."

"Great," Mello said, adding in his hourly dose of sarcasm. He scribbled what he thought the board said and grabbed his backpack. _The bell rings in five, four, three, two...dammit why does this last second always seem so lo-one! Bingo!_

He rocketed out of his chair almost immediately as the bell rang, shoving his agenda in Mr. Ilat's face for a split-second before taking off to art class.

Unlike his other classes, art was something he looked forward to. It taught valuable creativity skills, and allowed you to illustrate your thoughts clearly. You could do it with writing, too, he supposed, but that was always Near's field of expertise. Not his.

The sudden thought of the white-haired devil instantly dimmed his mood, but nonetheless he was glad as soon as he entered the classroom.

"Good afternoon, Mello-kun," Mrs. Kramer regarded him fondly, a smile on her bright red lips.

Mello smiled back. "Good morning, Belita-sensei." Along with liking this class, he liked this teacher as well. She was spunky, and she always had something clever to say if a kid bashed their own or anyone else's work. She was the only Hispanic teacher at The Wammy House, but she was very fluent in Japanese as well as Spanish, which made Mello wonder why she didn't teach that instead of art. But oh, well.

The students in Spanish 1 were missing out, he decided upon taking his seat next to his best friend.

"Yo, Mello," Matt-the aforementioned best friend-whispered. "You write down Mr. Ilat's homework?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "You're not copying it from me _again_, Matt. And for goodness sake, we're in a Japanese classroom, the least you could do is _not _speak English."

Matt frowned. "C'mon, Mells, you know I can't read a word the man writes! His handwriting is horrific! And I'm stuck with him next period through the rest of the day if I don't get it down!"

"Sucks for you, eh?"

"Melloooo!"

Mello groaned. "I hate you," he muttered, handing off his well-kept agenda to the beaming redhead.

"Luyoo too, Mells!" he chirped, copying the assignment into his own beat-up notebook. "Thanks."

Just as Mello took his agenda back, the late bell rang, and Mrs. Kramer shut the classroom door.

"Today," she began, flipping her hair behind her shoulder, "we're going to work on a special project. Everyone please grab a sheet of printer paper and a pencil."

The class bustled about for a few moments before they settled down again. Mrs. Kramer sat at her desk and pulled a few of her own papers together. "Today's lesson is called 'Art of Passion.' The objective of this lesson is to look around you and simply _draw_."

It sounded easy enough.

"But, here's the tricky part. You _can not _look at your paper while you draw."

A few kids gasped, others groaned. Mello could care less.

"The reason we do this is to uncover your hidden passions. It doesn't necessarily have to be in this room, but looking around gets the little gears in the very back of your brain cranking. Pretty soon you'll have drawn a whole picture of your hidden passion, and you would've barely felt your pencil move!"

With her instructions nearly finished, the teacher stood up again and wrote Art of Passion on the dry-erase board (see that, Mr. Ilat? Dry erase!) before sitting again. "This is due at the end of the class. You may begin."

While everyone was pondering how to go about this unusual assignment, Near was sitting at the very back of the classroom, already pretty sure what he'd end up drawing. _After all, my most obvious passions are coming in first... _

A flash of a black-painted fingernail rubbing against a pencil quickly entered his mind.

_Succeeding L..._

Another flash, this one of a smooth pink tongue licking up the side of a chocolate bar.

_Learning new things..._

Golden blond hair being gently lifted by the oscillating fan.

_Solving puzzles..._

Black-clad legs slowly crossing in a femininely sexy manner.

Near tapped the eraser end of his pencil to his mouth, unaware of the thought flashes floating in his subconscious. He looked away from his paper and began to draw.

Mello, a grin on his face, licked the side of his chocolate bar and snapped off a piece before looking at the wall before him and starting to draw.

He knew what he'd draw. Something chocolate or sweets-related, or perhaps even something about him becoming the new L. His obvious passions.

This assignment was easy, he thought, chuckling internally.

Before long, the seventh period bell rang, reverberating in the room with a distinctly shrill sound.

Near looked down at his paper, curious as to which of his suspicions were correct. But the moment his eyes landed on his paper, his brain screeched to a halt. None. Nothing that he'd thought he'd draw had been the product of his labor.

He'd drawn...Mello? Yes, it was most definitely Mello. It was the exact same pose the boy had been sitting in nearly all period, Near was sure of it.

Nervously, he raised his hand. "Belita-sensei? May I work on mine tomorrow, I did not finish."

Mrs. Kramer looked reluctant about doing such a favor, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, Near-kun, I will allow you additional time tomorrow. Everyone, you may hold on to your drawings until the end of class tomorrow, I suppose."

Cheering.

Mello laughed, stuffing his own drawing into his folder. "Tch, Near's such a loser. Can't even finish a simple pencil sketch."

Matt ignored his friend's slander, and the two walked out to their next-to-last class of the day-Mathematics.

They strolled casually into the room, late, as usual, because this classroom was on the opposite side of the House grounds from their last one. It was a wonder to Mello that Near even made it on time. The kid must walk crazy fast, he guessed.

The boys took their seats on opposite sides of the classroom where Mrs. Kamachi had separated them for talking during her lecture on not talking during her lectures.

"OK, class," Mrs. Kamachi began, her rough voice immediately hushing the students. "Today we're going to..."

Mello's attention span buzzed out that very moment. _Whatever, I already know most of this crap, anyway. Factoring trinomials, solving polynomials, blah blah blah... Doesn't she know us gifted ninth-graders are _beyond _ninth-grade math?_

He sighed internally and shoved his drawing folder in the metal basket attached to the underside of his desk. From his peripheral vision he saw Near do the same.

The teacher in this class wasn't any less boring than Mr. Ilat, so the time they spent in the stuffy yellow-painted room seemed to stretch on forever. Mello was exceedingly thankful when the bell finally rang.

He stood up and gathered his things, grabbing his folder from beneath his desk.

The class cleared out quickly, and by the time Mello was even ready to go, he was the only one left besides Matt. "Gees," he mumbled to himself, shaking his head. When he looked to his left, he noticed that Near had left his drawing folder under his desk.

Heaving a theatrical sigh, Mello decided to do Near the odd favor and grab it for him. Once he'd pulled it out, a sheet of paper slid out of the bottom and sliced through the air until it reached the floor.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Mells, I'll see ya next class, 'kay? You take too fricken' long."

Mello mimicked the redhead's eye-roll. "Whatever, Matt." Matt bolted off, and Mello had barely finished his sentence.

He bent down and picked up the paper, scanning it curiously. He felt his breathing hitch.

_Wh-why does Near have a drawing of _me _in here? This can't be... It can't be the Art of Passion assignment, can it?_

Suddenly he felt uneasy, like someone was watching him. He raised his head to the doorway and saw the culprit of such a feeling.

Near stood there, eyes wide and unblinking.

Both of them were still for a while until Near entered the room, took the folder and drawing from Mello's hands, and simply left again without a word.

Mello shook his head and forced a laugh. "Weirdo..." He cleared his throat and exited Mrs. Kamachi's class right as the late bell rang.

Ms. Kayunde scolded him the moment he got to her classroom, but he disregarded it. His brain was in overdrive as it was, and he didn't need the last class's teacher bombarding it with her useless screaming.

He took his seat and slipped his drawing folder under his desk again. He saw Near tuck his away in his backpack this time.

The whole class period he thought about it. What had happened? It was so out-of-the-ordinary he almost felt like it hadn't occurred at all. Or at least not to him.

He hated Near. Why didn't Near hate him?

A quiet groan escaped him; he slammed his forehead on his desk.

In serious need of sweets, he pulled his half-eaten chocolate bar from the side pouch of his backpack and then withdrew his folder from below the desk.

_Hm, I never did look at what I drew. _

He smiled a bit as he ate his confection. His black-painted nails skimmed the crimson surface of the portfolio before lazily pulling the flap open.

Right before his teeth bit down on the bar in his hand, he paused, eyeing his drawing in shock. His hand slammed the chocolate down, opting to pick up the paper with both hands instead.

He'd drawn _Near_? Of all things-of all people! He figured for a moment that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but after his heart skipped a beat when he looked up at the boy in question, the thought was discarded. Everything suddenly clicked into place, like a...like a puzzle. (_Damn it, why couldn't I think of another simile? _he thought irritably.)

Although the notion seemed downright impossible, he obviously..._liked _Near. His brain didn't even spat in response, but sent another faulty beat to his heart.

And the drawing was adorable... Ergh, he thought _it _was adorable because he thought _Near _was adorable, right? His brain said yes.

He was so absorbed in his sudden revelation that he barely noticed when Ms. Kayunde called on him. "Mello-kun?"

"Yes, Sakura-sensei?"

"I said, 'what is the lowest point in the world that is not covered by an ocean?'"

"The Bentley Subglacial Trench," he murmured unenthusiastically.

Ms. Kayunde nodded. "Correct."

She looked like she was about to say something else, but the bell spoke first.

The kids hooted and rushed out the door, leaving Ms. Kayunde to shake her head and begin cleaning up her desk.

Right then, an idea popped into Mello's head.

With a fluttery feeling in his stomach, he sat his backpack over his folder, pretended to organize everything, and left the room, doing everything in his power not to smile when Near noticed he'd left his folder.

He was pretty positive the albino knew what he was up to, but it didn't matter. The outcome would've been the same either way.

The last thing he saw before he exited the room entirely was Near slowly opening the folder and peering inside.

He'd made sure he'd left his drawing on the top.

-o-

"Oh, man, Mello, did you _see _Linda in class today?"

"Yeah. What about her?"

Matt grinned; Mello thought he looked like a drunken idiot.

"She was wearing the sexiest mini skirt, and her legs are _amazing!_"

Mello laughed. "Dude, you have a crush on Linda?"

Matt trilled his tongue. "A liiiittle..."

"Doesn't sound little to me, Matt."

"Oh, shut up. You know if _your _crush was wearing a mini skirt that barely constituted as a skirt you'd be all over it, too."

Mello turned bright red.

"Mm-hm, see what I'm sayin'?" Matt withdrew his Gameboy and proceeded to the room they shared.

"Hey, Matt?"

"Yeah?" Mello could already tell Matt wasn't listening anymore, but he continued anyway. "I'm going somewhere for a little while, I'll be back later." He didn't give Matt time to respond before sprinting away.

"Mm-hm. Sure," came Matt's late reply, his eyes glued to the game.

-o-

Mello had planned to stop at Near's door, but said plan was thwarted once he ran smack into the very person he was wishing to see.

"Mello-kun," Near said. It wasn't exactly a greeting, but then again, Mello couldn't say for sure.

"Hey, Near-kun. Uhm..."

There wasn't much to say when he was currently laying sprawled on top the kid. He grunted and pushed himself up, balancing on his feet sort of like L. "Sorry."

"It's all right."

An awkward silence hung in the air.

Finally Near stood up, and Mello followed suit. "You left your folder in Sakura-sensei's class." He thrust the folder into Mello's chest.

The look in the younger boy's eyes said he knew everything.

Mello couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, Near-kun."

For a split-second, Mello thought he saw Near smile.

Another short silence. Then, "M-Mello-kun?"

The blonde stiffened. Upon hearing the unusual stammer in Near's voice, he suddenly forgot why he had come over this way in the first place. What had he meant to say?

"Y-yeah?"

"Never mind."

"No, what? What were you going to say?"

Near looked slightly embarrassed. "Does this mean Mello-kun likes me?"

Mello's face grew hot. "Well, I, uh, I suppose..."

"Or does it mean I am your passion...as an enemy?"

"No! That isn't it..."

This time Mello was sure he saw Near smile, but it vanished too quickly.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to take a leap. "You know, Near-kun, you really should smile more often." He bent down to reach Near's eye level. "It looks good on you."

And he leaned forward and kissed him.

When he pulled away, Near's face was bright red, contrasting oddly with his pale skin. Only when Mello chuckled did Near snap out of his blank state. "Thank you?" he said, sounding unsure.

Mello smiled. "I'd thank Belita-sensei if I were you. She's the one who assigned the project, after all." He ruffled Near's hair.

"That is true."

"Man, sometimes I think she does these things on purpose."

Near smiled a little. "Maybe."

"Now we can only hope it brings Matt and Linda together." Mello threw his head back and laughed. "That would be something, wouldn't it?"

"Definitely." Near shuffled his feet on the floor, rubbing his arm.

Mello was just about to ask why he looked so thoughtful when the younger finally reached a look of confirmation and threw his arms around Mello's neck.

Holding back a startled gasp, Mello focused his attention on not falling over as he hoisted Near up on his hips.

Near laughed.

Mello swore his heart had melted at the sound. He thought maybe his brain had exploded, too, but that could've happened a long time ago. The sound of Near laughing was just too darn _cute_.

So, with what he was sure was a dorky, lovestruck look on his face, Mello carried Near back to the latter's room, setting him on his bed and turning to leave.

"Wait, please," Near whispered, hugging a pillow to his chest.

_Ahh why does he have to give me that look? _

Mello chuckled through his nose. "What is it?"

"What are you drawing for your new Art of Passion project?"

"I'm not drawing a new picture."

Near blinked. "Really?"

"No. Are you?"

Near smiled in that cutesy way of his. "No."

Mello nodded once. "Good night, Near-kun."

"Good night, Mello-kun."


End file.
